1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to molds, and more particularly to molds for ice sculptures.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ornamental ice sculptures are often used as centerpieces at banquets, receptions, and other social functions. Ice sculptures are usually carved by hand from a large block of ice in a labor intensive and expensive manner.
A solution to this problem is to provide a mold into which water can be poured and subsequently frozen. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,206,899 of Whitehead, a method and apparatus for forming molded ice sculptures includes a mold fabricated from a flexible, resilient plastic material. The mold includes holes in its base through which support wires are inserted. The mold is inverted, base up, within a box slightly larger than the mold with the wires engaging the open top of the box and supporting the mold. After the mold is filled with water and frozen, it is removed from the box and the mold is stripped from the frozen sculpture.
A problem with ice molds of the type taught by Whitehead is that they are single part molds and thus cannot fully surround the finished ice sculpture to mold every part of its surface. Also, the mold of Whitehead is restricted to sculptures which taper more or less uniformly from top to bottom or vice versa so that it can be removed from the finished sculpture. The Whitehead mold could not, for example, be used to mold a ice sculpture having a relatively small top and bottom portions and an enlarged central portion. Furthermore, the Whitehead mold can only be used to make relatively small ice sculptures since the flexible material of the mold cannot retain its shape if too much water was contained within it.